Thatcham Research has announced the safest new cars of 2017, and long list of finalists for the What Car? Safety Award.This year’s tests have identified that there is more choice than ever in choosing a safe car.The list of ten cars taken from the 2016 Euro NCAP ratings, all meet the strict criteria for the award, which includes track-based testing of collision avoidance systems and achieving top marks in crash tests – all part of the 5 star rating system.Safety technology fitted to the vehicle must include: AEB (Autonomous Emergency Braking) fitted as standard and some form of Safety Assist technology beyond NCAP assessment such as lane keeping systems. The cars are then judged on market relevance and value for money. All 2017 long list finalists also feature Pedestrian, low speed City and high speed Inter-Urban AEB as standard.The 2017 long list includes:Alfa Romeo GiuliaAudi Q2Ford EdgeHyundai IoniqMercedes-Benz E-ClassPeugeot 3008Renault ScenicSeat AtecaToyota PriusVW TiguanAll vehicles included in the long list are similar in terms of specification and purchase price, with the Mercedes- Benz E-Class being the only more-expensive executive vehicle of the list. Thatcham Research is committed to driving the adoption of safer cars at all price points, not just higher list price vehicles. The 2016 commended vehicle, the Honda Jazz, was highly praised as the first supermini to offer AEB as standard across all trim lines, at an accessible purchase price.The long list also includes vehicles which feature innovations which go above and beyond the current Euro NCAP testing, and offer major safety benefits.Thatcham Research Chief Executive, Peter Shaw, said: “These ten vehicles represent some of the safest cars on sale in the UK today, and we are delighted to see that by raising awareness of the important issues surrounding vehicle safety, manufacturers are starting to rise to our challenge of fitting safety as standard across all models, regardless of segment or price.”The winner of the What Car? Safety Award 2017 will be announced on 11 January 2017.